WIRRAL Council has moved forward with plans for a new £15m park in Birkenhead as it looks for a contractor to take on the project. The Dock Branch park would eventually seek to connect one end of Birkenhead town centre to another running from Wirral Waters to Green Lane train station.
The new park was previously expected to open at the end of this year in 2024 but now current projections put it on track to open March 2027, though much is still up in the air. Another update on the project is expected later this year.
Wirral Council intends to create the park along the old railway line which stretches from Tower Road in the north of the town to Green Lane train station. It was last used in the 1980s. The first stage will be a 1.1km stretch from Tower Road near Wirral Waters to Argyle Street and could feature new landscapes, a cycle and walking route, gardens, and wildlife habitats.
A new 1,200 capacity events space is also planned as part of the new park that will be connected to Future Yard, a live music venue, café, bar and arts space on Argyle Street. It’s hoped these plans will be a catalyst for the regeneration of Birkenhead by making the centre of the town more attractive for development.
Wirral Council plans to build over 1,000 homes in the vicinity of the new park with plans approved earlier this year drawing inspiration from a development in Stockholm, Sweden. However for the project to go ahead, Wirral Council is waiting on a decision by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority about whether to award the council £15m towards the project.
At an economy, regeneration, and housing committee on September 16, Cllr Ed Lamb said it was “such an amazing project,” pointing to wider plans to develop the area into a new neighbourhood. According to a report, the plans for the new park are currently considered “in doubt” published before the committee but council officers outlined the next steps needed to move the project forward.
Council officer Rebeccah Lowry said the rating reflected the current status of the project at this point in time. She said the project is still waiting for a funding decision over the £15m describing it as a “key milestone,” adding: “We won’t have more certainly until we get past that.”
Cllr Lamb also pointed to a recent decision by council officers to appoint a contractor to move the project forward. On September 13, officers decided to start the search for a contractor who could be paid up to a maximum of £750,000 for the project. The funding would come from the combined authority grant if that is awarded to the council with no money given out before then.
This will take the project forward with detailed designs and help deliver 1.1km of the route with seven staircases and three ramps providing access to the park. Officers said the project would have “a deliverable timeline and a deliverable budget.”
However, further funding will be needed for the final stretch of the new park which will run alongside plans for 1,600 homes at Hind Street and the council still needs to acquire the old trainline off Network Rail following an assessment of the bridges along it.
At the meeting, councillors were reviewing a report that will be published in a six monthly basis showing where its 44 active regeneration projects are up to. These are given a number of different ratings but four are considered “unachievable” at present while 21 are “in doubt.”
Council officers said roughly £98m had been allocated for all of the projects, much of it government or combined authority grants. Liscard’s regeneration plans is another project that is currently “in doubt” as Wirral Council waits for an update on an agreement needed for the funding to be handed over.
This agreement will also mean work can begin moving a number of different projects forward. These include a new community hub, new homes on Seaview Road car park, and other improvements to the town centre.
In response to when the government might respond, council officers said they had made the government “aware that we will run into delivery problems if this does persist.”
During the meeting, councillors asked for updates on a number of projects. This includes a Wirral Waters dementia village after Belong pulled out with talks ongoing with another provider for extra care facilities. Council officers also remain confident about delivering two schemes in Birkenhead town centre on a former House of Fraser and Price Street car park despite tight funding deadlines for both schemes with the former needing to be delivered in six and a half months.
During the meeting, it was also revealed 120 people responded to an ongoing consultation about the new plans for a Birkenhead Market in an old Argos on Prince Pavements.
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